really angry with childminder - long rant!

I posted a couple of weeks ago about Hannah's CM randomly telling me that they were going to start charging £4 a day for food 'in a few weeks time'  They are already really expensive compared to others in the area (we pay £42 a day and most others are more like 30 - 35 with all meals included) so it seemed a bit unreasonable to start asking for money for meals.  Anyway, I made my opinion known that I thought it was rubbish to start charging when it'd never been mentioned before and that £4 a day is a lot for what Hannah eats.

Anyway, I had to meet with them yesterday about it and they said (only after I read it on something they gave me to sign) that since people had complained about the food charges they now were not offering any food at all, not even allowing you to pay for it and not even milk or anything but also that they can't heat anything we send in (not even milk for her weetabix!)

I said I thought it was pretty poor since I was going to have to send Hannah with cold food for lunch and dinner and that wasn't really fair for her.  I then declined to resign my contract saying i wanted to discuss with H as we may look into another option e.g. MIL picking her up earlier to allow her to have a hot meal (we couldn't do this, I just didn't want to sign then and there).

Then at 8.15 last night I got a call from the CM saying they are now going to offer dinner at £1 as a lot of people have complained about no hot food being available.  I just think they are being really unprofessional about it all and feel really disappointed with them but I also really don't want to move Hannah as she loves it there and we looked at 11 CM's to find one we liked.  I suspect they've done some maths and realised that if people reduce their hours to enable them to give breakfast / dinner at home then they'll end up worse off anyway.

So now out of nowhere I have to pay the already overpriced rates they charge, bring in all her food for breakfast and lunch and then pay £1 for dinner.  Really not impressed at all.

Rant over!

TBH I would be looking elsewhere, they are bang out of order messing about like that and then having a strop about it and saying that they are going to provide NO food -  thats disgusting! £1 for a hot meal is very reasonable but after all the messing about I would be reconsidering my childcare options.

The nursery my girls go to cost £34 for a full day (7am-6.30pm, although I don't use the full hrs) and provide a breakfast, homecooked hot lunch and substantial dinner, plus snacks twice a day, and they are one of the most expensive in my area. I always thought childminders were supposed to be cheaper.

I think Id be looking elsewhere too, in principal more than anything!

I'd be looking at somewhere else too, if they are willing to be that odd about meals then I would wonder what else they'd try and change?

Yeah I kind of feel that we should look for someone else and I have actually got the local childminder vacancy lists but I just don't want to move Hannah from somewhere she really likes.  Also they are within walking distance which really helps and none of the others are.

I finish work at the end of december so will hopefully reduce her hours so she's not there for breakfast and dinner anyway.  It is also a matter of principle but I don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face or whatever the saying is!

I'd look elsewhere, you don't have to move her until you've found someone else you're happy with. It doesn't sound like they are motivated by what is best for the children.

It sounds bizarre and poorly thought out/communicated. It also begs the question about what other changes they might plan in the future, and how you would be consulted then. It should be consultation IMO, after all, you are the customer.

Oh, and FWIW I send S to nursery, where the only thing I need to provide in the whole day is a special cream for her nappy rash , a pair of wellies and a sippy cup. She gets all nappies and wipes etc, breakfast, hot lunch, tea, and snacks. It's about £46 a day and we're in Greater London. I appreciate nurseries may not be your choice, and I'm not saying change your provider, but just some perspective for you on what other providers charge. My nursery is one of the more expensive tbh.

Now that your daughter is older, your opinion of other providers may have changed, so if you do feel that way inclined, don't worry too much about revisiting some of the CMs or nurseries you looked at at first if you just want some reassurance from the other providers about what is provided.

FWIW we pay £38.50 a day (8 am - 5.30 pm) for nursery. They provide all food and drink (home-cooked on site by their chef who has a healthy eating award) and snacks, nappies, wipes, rash cream, suncream etc. We're in the North though,

I agree that it sounds like your CM has handled this v unprofessionally, and like others have said I'd be worried about what they might try to suggest/change in the future if this is the case now. Could you relook at the original CMs you dismissed and see if your feelings towards them have changed? I know you don't want to move your daughter from where she's happy, but far better now with a bit of planning than potentially having to take her out in the future in a rush when/if the CMs try something equally silly!

What a nightmare, I can appreciate not wanting to move her as I would be in a real mess if I had to consider the same, my CM is soooo fab and I'd be unwilling to move L elsewhere without absolute good reason. We pay £25 from 8am to 5pm but she keeps him later if I'm running late and that includes all meals, snacks etc..

I'd be inclined to stick it out until December to be honest, only because it's not so long until then, not because I don't think they're being unreasonable!

It's a toughie .x.

That's dreadful, I think I would also be looking elsewhere as I'd be concerned of what changes they might try to spring in the future, or is she going to save costs elsewhere by cutting down on activities? I'd also be a bit concerned that they don't really care that much about the children they are caring for if they're happy to have them there without a hot meal all day just when the days start getting colder. Actually that's the bit which would annoy me the most, she doesn't seem to be thinking of how her decisions will be affecting the children in her care.

I can understand why you might not want to disrupt things though. 

Thats rubbish, it is not in Ofsted rules anywhere that they have to provide some hot food during the day, if they are providing food? I know we certainly have to at school, children have breakfast club with toast, cereals, hot oatcakes etc, then hot toast at break time, and hot meal at lunchtime too.

yeah i am a bit worried now about what they might change in the future. And I've been gobsmacked by how unprofessional and actually how spiteful and greedy they've been. Thing is they are SO good with the children. They have a lot of children that have been there for years and years. I turned up earlier than usual yesterday and was let in by one of their teenage daughters so they didn't know I'd arrived and the female CM (they are a H and wife team) was sitting in the playroom playing with Hannah which was so nice to see. And she loves it there because there are so many children all of different ages (this was something that initially worried us but actually Hannah seems to thrive on it!)

I think i'm just SO reluctant to look elsewhere as we looked at 11 CM and 5 nurseries before finding them. I guess it is a bit different now she's older. We only actually NEED childcare until the end of dec and thereafter were hoping to keep hannah there for her 1 day a week on less hours as we're expecting another baby in march so thought it'd be nice for her to have some fun time away. I suppose in that case if they did pull something rubbish again it wouldn't be a big deal to take her out as it's not like we'd NEED the childcare for me to be at work IYSWIM. I might see about meeting with a couple of the more local CM'sto see what they are like.

Argh, I do think that childcare is the hardest thing we've had to deal with since having her!! My head says move her, they are taking the piddle but my heart says she's happy and settled there. Urgh

Thanks for the replies

i am a CM myself, and it seems pricey for the food, my daily charges are more expensive but I live in london. She should be able to offer to warm up food, what about baby food then or baby milk ? ?

As for the milk, they have to provide it and she can claim the money back.

If i was you I would ring NCMA or Ofsted without giving names but asking about the norms about serving food and especially milk. Obvisoulyt i could open a big can of worm with your CM but at least you would know if she is allowed for sure to do that

Moz

It would seem like they are being quite awkward about it all. Are they qualified to prepare food? Maybe that is the problem. Qualified isn't the word I'm looking for, but E's nursery/childminder (its sort of somewhere in between - 2 childminders running a nursery - just read your reply and sounds like a similar set up) have a certified food prep area and also have various certificates to say they are allowed to prepare food. I know from what they were saying that you have various certificates in order to comply with ofsted. I pay £40 a day for E, I currently provide all his food/milk but they heat it, and when I want him to eat their food it will be an extra £3 per day, but it is all home cooked food so I am happy to pay this. What sort of food were they providing?

We paid £8/hour for our childminder, and provided lunch (they would heat it up if it was a hot meal rather than sandwiches.) They provided snacks. This is central London.

For me it was completely worth it as C got near on one to one attention each day (they were a husband a wife team) but also the benefits of seeing a couple of other children. They were wonderful with him.

That said, I do know some parents who had communication difficulties with our childminder. People who are great with children aren't often the best at the admin/payment/communication side of things. For me it was worth it to swallow the occasional inconvenience to see my son so settled and happy - they were really like another set of grandparents for us.

TBH it sounds like your CMs are more in that category - they just didn't think through the implications of what they were offering. They may have had difficulties calculating how much food would cost etc. It may simply be that they just aren't good at that side of things, rather than that they were being deliberately greedy/difficult.

Going against the grain of responses I'd be inclined to stick with them. They sound like they are good with your daughter, and for me that would be the priority. Everything else can be sorted out between the adults.